In Situ Crystallization and Morphological Evolution in Multicomponent Indium Oxide Thin Films

Mahyar M. Moghadam; Ran Li; D. Bruce Buchholz; Qianqian Li; Peter W. Voorhees; Vinayak P. Dravid

doi:10.1021/acs.cgd.6b01849

In Situ Crystallization and Morphological Evolution in Multicomponent Indium Oxide Thin Films

Mahyar M. Moghadam, Ran Li, D. Bruce Buchholz, Qianqian Li, Peter W. Voorhees, Vinayak P. Dravid^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

The crystallization kinetics of Zn_0.3In_1.4Sn_0.3O₃ (ZITO-30) thin films is investigated via isothermal in situ transmission electron microscopy measurements. Extensive analysis is conducted to reveal the nucleation mechanism and growth rate at four different temperatures. The results show that the nucleation rate in this system is time-dependent and continuously decelerates following a power law decay. The crystal growth rate is constant at a given temperature, and interface-limited growth is the controlling mechanism in the kinetics of amorphous ZITO-30 crystallization. The activation energy for the overall process and interface growth are derived from the experimental data. A morphological study of the grains shows that the {100} interfaces have low mobility and are responsible for the anisotropic crystal shapes. It is found that the {111} and {100} planes of the crystal form parallel to the film-vapor interface during the nucleation process. The results demonstrate a rather complex yet tractable correlation between the experimental results and theoretical underpinning in complex multicomponent oxide thin films.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1396-1403
Number of pages	8
Journal	Crystal Growth and Design
Volume	17
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6b01849
State	Published - Mar 1 2017

Funding

This publication is based on work supported by the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (NSF-MRSEC) (DMR-1121262) of Northwestern University. This research made use of the EPIC and Keck-II facilities of Northwestern University's NUANCE Center, which received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF NNCI-1542205), the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1121262) at the Materials Research Center, the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN), the Keck Foundation, and the State of Illinois.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
General Materials Science
Condensed Matter Physics

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title = "In Situ Crystallization and Morphological Evolution in Multicomponent Indium Oxide Thin Films",

abstract = "The crystallization kinetics of Zn0.3In1.4Sn0.3O3 (ZITO-30) thin films is investigated via isothermal in situ transmission electron microscopy measurements. Extensive analysis is conducted to reveal the nucleation mechanism and growth rate at four different temperatures. The results show that the nucleation rate in this system is time-dependent and continuously decelerates following a power law decay. The crystal growth rate is constant at a given temperature, and interface-limited growth is the controlling mechanism in the kinetics of amorphous ZITO-30 crystallization. The activation energy for the overall process and interface growth are derived from the experimental data. A morphological study of the grains shows that the {100} interfaces have low mobility and are responsible for the anisotropic crystal shapes. It is found that the {111} and {100} planes of the crystal form parallel to the film-vapor interface during the nucleation process. The results demonstrate a rather complex yet tractable correlation between the experimental results and theoretical underpinning in complex multicomponent oxide thin films.",

author = "Moghadam, {Mahyar M.} and Ran Li and Buchholz, {D. Bruce} and Qianqian Li and Voorhees, {Peter W.} and Dravid, {Vinayak P.}",

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AU - Moghadam, Mahyar M.

AU - Li, Ran

AU - Buchholz, D. Bruce

AU - Li, Qianqian

AU - Voorhees, Peter W.

AU - Dravid, Vinayak P.

PY - 2017/3/1

Y1 - 2017/3/1

N2 - The crystallization kinetics of Zn0.3In1.4Sn0.3O3 (ZITO-30) thin films is investigated via isothermal in situ transmission electron microscopy measurements. Extensive analysis is conducted to reveal the nucleation mechanism and growth rate at four different temperatures. The results show that the nucleation rate in this system is time-dependent and continuously decelerates following a power law decay. The crystal growth rate is constant at a given temperature, and interface-limited growth is the controlling mechanism in the kinetics of amorphous ZITO-30 crystallization. The activation energy for the overall process and interface growth are derived from the experimental data. A morphological study of the grains shows that the {100} interfaces have low mobility and are responsible for the anisotropic crystal shapes. It is found that the {111} and {100} planes of the crystal form parallel to the film-vapor interface during the nucleation process. The results demonstrate a rather complex yet tractable correlation between the experimental results and theoretical underpinning in complex multicomponent oxide thin films.

AB - The crystallization kinetics of Zn0.3In1.4Sn0.3O3 (ZITO-30) thin films is investigated via isothermal in situ transmission electron microscopy measurements. Extensive analysis is conducted to reveal the nucleation mechanism and growth rate at four different temperatures. The results show that the nucleation rate in this system is time-dependent and continuously decelerates following a power law decay. The crystal growth rate is constant at a given temperature, and interface-limited growth is the controlling mechanism in the kinetics of amorphous ZITO-30 crystallization. The activation energy for the overall process and interface growth are derived from the experimental data. A morphological study of the grains shows that the {100} interfaces have low mobility and are responsible for the anisotropic crystal shapes. It is found that the {111} and {100} planes of the crystal form parallel to the film-vapor interface during the nucleation process. The results demonstrate a rather complex yet tractable correlation between the experimental results and theoretical underpinning in complex multicomponent oxide thin films.

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In Situ Crystallization and Morphological Evolution in Multicomponent Indium Oxide Thin Films

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